Welcome to Kumano, brush-making capital of Japan

By Steve John Powell, for CNN. Photos by Angeles Marin Cabello

Updated 0637 GMT (1437 HKT) March 20, 2014

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Sakakiyama Shrine – As part of Kumano, Japan's annual Brush Festival, a row of 10,000 brushes hangs along the 99-step path leading to the 10th-century Sakakiyama Shrine. Kumano has been renowned for its brush-making artisans since the end of Japan's Edo period.

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Brush Festival – Each autumn equinox, used brushes from all over Japan are brought to Kumano to be thrown onto a pyre as part of the Fude no Matsuri (Brush Festival). "It's to honor the souls of the brushes, for the work they've done," says Shin Takemori, president of one of Kumano's 80 family run brush companies.

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Sale of the year – It wouldn't be a brush festival without vendors selling actual brushes. Stalls selling the famous implements at knockdown prices line Brush Avenue during Fude no Matsuri.

"It began about 160 years ago, toward the end of the Edo era (1603-1867)," explains Takemori.

Every year, used brushes from all over Japan are brought to Kumano to be thrown onto a pyre.

"This is a mountainous area, with little flat land for farming, so it was hard to survive in winter. Many men used to make ends meet by going away to Nara prefecture, to work in forestry.

"They'd buy calligraphy brushes there and re-sell them on returning to Kumano."

Around 1840, a few enterprising farmers decided to learn to make the brushes themselves.

They combined different brush making techniques they'd learned on their travels and developed a method unique to Kumano.

In 1877, Japan's introduction of compulsory education, including calligraphy, triggered a surge in demand for calligraphy brushes.

Word of Kumano's distinctive brushes began to spread and a brand was born.

In recent times, as demand for calligraphy brushes has declined, Chikuhodo (founded in 1952, the company employs more than 100 workers) and other well known Kumano companies began producing high-end makeup brushes and paint brushes, while still using traditional artisan techniques.

The museum houses one of the world's largest calligraphy brushes (3.7 meters long, weighing 400 kilos), suspended from the ceiling.

In the souvenir shop, you can have your name engraved on the brush.

A calligraphy master uses a giant brush to put on a show at the annual Kumano Brush Festival.

You can also find the Birth Fude -- a special brush for a baby's hair.

Better yet, you can have a souvenir brush made from your baby's first hairs.

You can also try your hand at making your own brush.

During the Brush Festival, tens of thousands of visitors from all over Japan throng tranquil Kumano.

The air is alive with the smoky tang of yakisoba noodles, octopus dumplings and skewered squid sizzling on grills at colorful food stalls.

At other stalls, local companies sell brushes at discount prices.

The heart of the festival is Brush Avenue -- the steep, 99-step path leading to the 10th-century Sakakiyama Shrine.

Brush Avenue is festooned with 10,000 brushes of various sizes, hanging down around head-height, "so everyone can feel them," Takemori says.

A festival highlight is a demonstration by a master calligrapher.

The master paces barefoot around his "canvas" (a large vinyl sheet spread on the ground) in a balletic whirl, wielding a heavy brush longer than his arm, while an assistant stands by with an ink pot as big as a barrel.

With great, graceful strokes, the master composes a message of gratitude to the Fude no Kokoro (Spirit of the Brush).

As the applause fades, an explosion of fireworks heralds the arrival of a boisterous procession, led by a brightly decorated bamboo boat.

It carries the kami, or spirit of the local deity.

Men in colorful happi coats haul the boat up Brush Avenue (all 99 steps), back to the shrine.

There, the kami will rest until next autumn equinox, when Kumano once more falls under the Spirit of the Brush.